Abstract

Despite its historical role in gout, the metabolic effects of colchicine have not been explored. In six obese patients receiving constant low-calorie diets, containing 300 to 500 mg of cholesterol daily, colchicine, 1.9 to 3.9 mg/day orally, was administered for 4 to 21 days. Colchicine periods were preceded by 4- to 7-day control periods and were succeeded by postdrug periods of 4 to 8 days of the same diet, or 10 days of fasting. Serum cholesterol fell by 40 to 80 mg/100 ml in 6 days in four of the five patients. In one patient a fall of 20 mg/100